


Hearts Across the Universe

by Seafea



Category: Kingdom Hearts, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 09:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3285050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seafea/pseuds/Seafea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heartless, they seek out darkness wherever it might lie and feast on it until it grows enough to consume the world they prey on. No world is spared their wrath. Not even Equestria. When the world is eventually devoured by the parasitic beings, three friends become separated and set out on a journey to find one another. But as they venture, they slowly find out they all are part of a much greater purpose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Catastrophe that Sets the Wheels of Faith into Motion

_Everything’s dark…_

_Dark and…cold._

_Wait ah can see a light._

It feels so warm… 

Apple Bloom’s eyes suddenly opened. There was nothingness spanning in every direction around her. She felt if she was slowly descending through the void and into the unknown. Then, shard by shard, a beautiful stain glass image of Princess Luna formed below her. The midnight princess’s regal dress blew backwards in the wind against an image of her royal cutie mark. As soon as the picture had completed itself Apple Bloom’s feet landed on it. It felt surprisingly sturdy and yet at the same time, like it wasn’t there at all.

“Hello?” Apple Bloom called out. Her voice echoed out through the vast abyss. “Is anyone there?”

_She is waking up._

“Who was that?” Apple Bloom looked all around herself but saw no one.

_Yes but she’s still lost in the dark._

Perhaps we need to show her the light?

A spiral staircase appeared in a burst of light at the center of the stain glass platform. Apple Bloom looked upwards and saw that they seemed to go up forever. Seeing nowhere else to go, she decided to ascend the mysterious staircase. Placing one hand on the handrail she put her foot on the first step and slowly walked up step by step. Each step she climbed she could feel the void around her growing colder and colder. She peered down over the rail just in time to see the stain glass image of Princess Luna shatter into thousands of tiny glass shards which disappeared into the blackness. The staircase was left hovering over the nothingness below.

Then suddenly the void seemed to be rising up the staircase. It appeared to have taken on a physical form and was climbing up the stairs after Apple Bloom. She darted up the stairs as fast as she could to try and prevent the darkness from reaching her. As she climbed higher and higher she saw the stair case above her beginning to fade from sight. The very next step she took her foot was met with no solid surface to support it and she fell straight into the rising darkness…

 

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted causing Apple Bloom’s eyes to snap awake. “Ah can’t believe ya, sleeping in the middle of the day like that. Get yer lazy hide outa bed and help me with the fieldwork.” She walked around of the room in an annoyed fashion.

“That dream again…” Apple Bloom mumbled to herself as she sat up and stretched her body. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Why the heck do ah keep having it? Does it mean something?” She pushed it to the side of her mind. “Ah’ll just ask Zecora about it later. Ah really don’t wanna keep Applejack waiting.” With that Apple Bloom jumped out of bed, did her hair up in a bow, and ran out the door ready to tackle the day.

 

**Equestria**

 

Celestia’s sun shined brightly in the sky as Apple Bloom and her older sister worked under it. She climbed up a ladder and inspected the fruits blooming inside of the trees branches. “These ones aren’t quite ripe yet sis.” She called down.

“Darn.” Applejack said. “Well looks like we’ll have ta hold off on harvesting for another week then.” She sighed in disappointment. “Alright then ya can go along and play with yer friends now. Just be back by sunset.”

“Ah will!” Apple Bloom shouted as she darted off over the hill and down the path that lead into down. The wide open hills and fields soon gave way into the busy streets of Ponyville. The town was alive and populated by numerous people all going about their day. Some were busy chatting, others were doing daily shopping, and some were just out enjoying the day. Apple Bloom wove her way through the sea of adults as quickly as she could while trying her best not to disturb anyone. She knew exactly where she was going. She was going to her and her friends’ regular meeting spot: Sugar Cube Corner.

It was likely that Sweetie Belle would already be inside waiting for her since she lived so close to the bakery to begin with. Whether or not Scootaloo was there already depended on the type of mood she was in. Sometimes she would be there before Apple Bloom got there, other times she would be a half an hour late. She was unpredictable. Apple Bloom finally reached her destination after making her way through one last crowd of people. She prepared to open the door but was interrupted by a familiar voice yelling at her.

“Watch out!” Scootaloo’s voice shouted. Apple Bloom only had a second to look around for the source of the voice in vain. She spent that second looking in every direction accept the one where the voice was coming from: above her. Scootaloo loved to think of herself a bit of a daredevil; and her latest stunt was riding her scooter across the rooftops of Ponyville. Everything was going great at first. The roof in which she started on had a nice steep slope that allowed her to gain the initial speed she needed to start jumping and grinding her way across the rest. She was flawlessly jumping from roof to roof, spinning her scooter around in the air in different manors, feeling as if she could actually fly. Her final phase of the stunt was to jump off the roof of the building across the street from Sugar Cube Corner and land right in front of the door. Unfortunately at the exact moment she decided to execute this phase Apple Bloom walked right in front of the door. Scootaloo could do nothing to stop their collision.

“Mah head…” Apple Bloom moaned as she slowly got up rubbed the new bump she had acquired.

“Sorry…” Scootaloo said as she got up as well. She was in just as much pain even though she had the privilege of wearing a helmet at the time of the impact. “You walked there right after I jumped.”

“It’s fine. Let’s go inside and not keep Sweetie waitin’ for us any longer.” The two girls, still dizzy from the impact, opened the door to the bakery and went inside. It wasn’t very crowed inside. There were two people in line at the counter where that were being served by one of the shop’s owner’s, Cup Cake. A couple of the tables had other people sitting down and eating while they chatted about things. They saw Sweetie Belle sitting at their usual table in the corner the window. She was looking at the two of them with a smug look on her face.

“Nice landing Scoots,” Sweetie said as the two of them sat down.

“Oh ha-ha very funny,” Scootaloo said as she rolled her eyes. “You try landing when someone walks onto your landing site at the last second.” 

“Well how was ah supposed ta know ya would have jumping off the room like that?” Apple Bloom retorted. “How was anyone supposed ta know that?”

“Calm down,” Sweetie said, trying to defuse any conflict that might occur. She thought it would be best to change the subject. “So I volunteered the three of us to be taste testers for some new recipes that Pinkie Pie made.”

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo eyed Sweetie Belle funny. “Is that a good idea?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I’m sure they’ll be safe _this_ time.” Sweetie Belle said referring to an incident that happened a while ago with cupcakes. “Oh look, here she comes now.” She pointed to Pinkie Pie, who was walking over to them with two trays on both her hands. One tray had three light blue ice cream bars on it and the other had a weird star-shaped cake on it. She lowered the tray with the ice cream on it to them and beckoned them each to take a bar.

“What are these?” Scootaloo asked studying her treat.

“I call it Sea-Salt Ice Cream.” Pinkie enthusiastically explained. “I made it so that it’ll never melt unless it gets really hot. Go on and taste it.” The three of them each took a lick of their ice cream bar and were instantly bewildered by the taste of them.

“It’s salty…” Scootaloo said with a puzzled expression. 

“No it’s sweet…” Apple Bloom said, equally amazed.

“It’s both!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. 

“That’s what I was going for!” Pinkie said excitedly. “So do you like it?” The three girls only nodded their heads yes as they finished their ice cream. “Awesome! I’ll make more and add it to the menu.” She then set the other tray with the cake on it down on the table.

“And what’s this?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Oh this is a special recipe my grandma Pinkie taught me called a Paopu Cake.” Pinkie said as she cut the cake into thirds. “It’s said that when people share a single one of these cakes, they’ll form a special bond with one another. No matter how far apart they get from each other, they’ll always remember and find a way back to them. So in a way they’ll be friends forever.” She put each piece of a cake on a small plate and handed the girls them along with a fork. “I baked one earlier for all of my friends and, seeing how you three are such great friends, thought I should bake one for you too. Enjoy!” She walked back behind the counter and into the kitchen.

“A cake that’ll make us friends forever?” Apple Bloom asked looking at her piece.

“It’s probably just an old legend or something like that.” Scootaloo said. “I mean, have you seen the type of area Pinkie grew up in? I bet there are tons of stories like that.”

“Still,” said Sweetie. “It might be fun to pretend it’s real. I wouldn’t mind being friends forever with you girls.”

“Me neither!” 

“Ya can count me in too!”

“Alright then!” The three of them picked up their forks and cut a piece of cake off. “Friends forever?”

“Friends forever!” They each ate their piece of cake and quickly dug into the rest. It tasted extremely fruity and spongy. After the cakes were finished Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle pushed their plates off to the side and began to discuss what they would be doing for today.

“I was thinking that we should build a raft.” Scootaloo explained. “Then take it out to the ocean and go on an adventure.”

“But we don’t even know how ta build a raft.”

“Yeah even if we did, how would we get to the ocean? It’s not like there’s a beach anywhere around Ponyville.”

Scootaloo thought about this for a second. “Alright, how about we start doing odd jobs all around town for money? When we earn enough money we buy three tickets and ride the train all the way down to the beach.” She smiled with pride at what she thought was a genius plan. But her friends were quick to point out its flaws.

“But what kind of jobs would give us that much money? I mean, do you have any idea how much a train ticket costs? Let alone three of them.”

“And ah don’t think our families would let us do somethin’ like that on our own. And there’s still the issue of not knowin’ how ta build a raft.”

“Yeah. And how would we even get a raft on a train?”

“Alright fine!” Scootaloo sighed in defeat. “No raft then. What do you two think we should do today then?”

Apple Bloom though of the dreams she’s kept having. “We’ll ah’ve been meanin’ ta go ta Zecora’s for a while now. Ah’ve been having this same weird dream fer over and over again and wanted ta ask her if it means anythin’.”

“Alright, a trip to Zecora’s sounds like it would be fun.” 

“To the Everfree!” The three girls sprang up from their table and bolted out the door. Scootaloo unfolded her scooter and started to ride down the streets at a speed that was still slow enough for her friends to keep up with. Sound they found themselves on the outskirts of town going down the path that lead to Fluttershy’s cottage. They took a second to wave to her as she was tending to her animals before entering the mouth of the forest that was just beyond the cottage. Scootaloo skidded her scooter to a half and waited for the other two girls to catch up. 

“Alright here we are.” Scootaloo said, trying not to sound nervous. “The Everfree forest. We better be careful.” She was referring to the fact that this forest was inhabited by a wide variety of dangerous creatures. 

“Don’t be a chicken.” Apple Bloom scoffed. “All we need ta do is stick to the path and we should be fine.” 

“I’m not a chicken!” Scootaloo knew better than to be afraid of going to Zecora’s hut. She didn’t live far enough into the forest to be in danger of any extremely deadly creatures; and for one reason or another the few creatures that they could encounter at that point in the forest tended to stay away from the path. Still there were a couple occasions where the three of them did encounter a threat along the path. In this case they would only have two options: flee to Zecora’s hut, which the very sight of would send the creature running in fear, or try to fend it off. Apple Bloom and her friends knew their fair share of self-defense technique thanks to video games and television that proved to be more than enough to help deal with most of the creatures. Taking a deep breath three of them walked inside the forest and always made sure to be looking over their shoulders. Scootaloo rolled her scooter alongside her instead of riding it so that she could stay close to her friends.

Despite the constant threat of being attacked, Apple Bloom and her friends always enjoyed the walk to Zecora’s. The dense forestry provided a strangely calming atmosphere for them even though it could be housing something that intended to hurt them. After a couple minutes of walk the trio concluded that they were safe and decided to ask Apple Bloom about these dreams she’s been having.

“We’ll they always start the same.” She explained. “It’s dark, and cold, and ah’m all alone in nothing. Then ah start to hear voices, but ah can never hear what ther sayin’ clearly. Suddenly ah’m standin’ on this glass-lookin’ floor. There’s always a picture of one of the princesses on it. Sometimes it’s Celestia, other times it’s Luna, it was even Twilight once or twice. And then it gets fuzzy from that point onward. But they always end with me running from some sort of darkness that ah somehow know is bad.”

“And how long have you been having these dreams?” Sweetie Belle asked. 

“Every night for the past couple of weeks.”

“Weird,” Scootaloo said. “We should definitively ask Zecora about…” She stopped dead in her tracks and wrapped her arms around her chest. “Did it suddenly just get colder?”

The other two stopped and felt the sudden change in temperature as well. They looked around for anything out of the ordinary. All three sets of eyes rested on three separate spots where they saw movement coming from the forest. Three creatures slowly crawled out from the forest and surrounded them. These creatures looked somewhat like small humans, only they were hunched over, completely black, had huge white circles for eyes, and antenna extending from their heads. It was clear from the way these creatures were approaching the girls that they meant to harm them.

“Wh-what are these things?” Sweetie asked as she and the other girls back towards each other. These strange creatures had them surrounded and were slowly moving in towards them.

“Ah don’t know. Ah’ve never seen anything like them before.” They knew that they had to act fast. The dark monsters looked like they were getting ready to attack.  
Scootaloo made a decision in a split second. She mounted her scooter and took off as fast as she could down the path. She was able to slip between the monsters and momentarily confuse them. “I’m going to get Zecora!” She shouted as she sped away from her friends. One of the creatures looked in her direction and bolted after much faster than it had been just a second ago. The remaining two still had their focus on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“What do we do?” Sweetie panicked.

“We-we got to fight them.” Apple Bloom said boldly. She looked off to the side of the path and found a long, sturdy stick lying on the ground. With most of the monsters she had encounter along this path just hitting them hard enough was enough to send them running back into the forest. Apple Bloom hoped that would be the case with these dark creatures as well. She gripped the stick tightly in her hand and swung it down on the closest monster to her’s head. The monster however was quick to react and easily slid out of the way. It then lunged at Apple Bloom and knocked her to the ground. The other creature took the stick from her and broke it in half. Both of them were now on Apple Bloom. She did her best to try and wrestle them off of her; but they were easily overpowering her.

Sweetie Belle just stood back motionless with fear as she watched on of her best friends get attacked. She screamed at her body to move but it didn’t comply. Even if she could move what could she do to help Apple Bloom? Out of the three of them, she was clearly the strongest from all the field work she does on a daily bases. And these shadow-like monsters were overpowering her like she was an infant. She felt so useless and helpless not being able to do anything even though she wanted to. But yet she had to do something.

_I can’t just let them hurt Apple Bloom! I need to do something!_

_I need to protect her!_

Then, without thinking, Sweetie Belle charged forward at the shadow monsters. Her mind wasn’t guiding her body. Only her desire to protect her friend was. As she charged something started to materialize in her hands. First it took the shape of a long pole of light. It quickly became purple and a microphone formed at the top of the rod. Just below the microphone three purple teeth protruded from the rod making it look like a large key. Around the spot on the pole where Sweetie’s hands were a white hilt surrounded them. At the bottom of the pole a keychain dangled with a metal music note charm at the end. Sweetie Belle leapt into the air and struck one of the monsters that was on Apple Bloom. It vanished into a puff of shadowy smoke. 

The other shadow monster jumped backwards and gazed at the weapon Sweetie was now holding with a look of fear. Out of nowhere more shadow monsters came to assist it. They all attacked Sweetie Belle in a group. But something had changed in Sweetie Belle. She was now fighting fiercely and violently with her new weapon. She dodged and parried the attacks of the monsters and swung at them with her key-like blade. Each monster exploded after only one hit from the weapon. The more of them Sweetie defeated however, the more that seemed to come and take their place.

Apple Bloom watched in amazement as her friend fought off the seemingly endless amount of creatures. Was this even Sweetie Belle anymore? The way she was fighting, it looked as though she was a whole new person. Apple Bloom’s eyes widened when she saw what was forming behind Sweetie and the army shadow monsters. She recognized it from her dreams. It was the darkness that had been chasing her. It was a large void of nothing but black. It began to consume the forest and was moving towards Sweetie.

“Sweetie! Run!” Apple Bloom shouted as loud as she could. Sweetie Belle snapped out of her trance and saw the approaching darkness. She began to run towards Apple Bloom. As she got closer to her friend black tendrils extended from the approaching void of darkness and grabbed Sweetie. She outstretched her hand to Apple Bloom and tried to grab hers. But she was pulled back just inches before their hands met. Sweetie was pulled into the void of darkness. The last thing Apple Bloom saw was the look of fear in her friend’s eyes before she disappeared. 

She could only run away now. Sweetie was taken by the darkness and Scootaloo was Celestia knows where. She couldn’t do anything to help either of them. She could only run away from the darkness and how it didn’t swallow her as well. As Apple Bloom ran down the forest path the land around her began to crack and break off. Huge chunks of forest were floating in the sky above her. All the while the darkness was growing faster and faster. A large portion of land in front of Apple Bloom broke off and flew out of her reach. She looked down into the star-filled void below her, then back at the approaching darkness and made her decision on what she would do: she jumped.


	2. Separated and Regretful

_I ran._

_My friends needed my help and I ran._

_What kind of friend am I?_

 

Scootaloo used her leg to propel herself as fast as she could down the forest path. She wasn’t sure how far it was to Zecora’s but Scootaloo knew that she would defiantly be able to help once she got there. She looked over her shoulder and saw that one of the shadow monsters was after her. It was leaping from tree to tree with high speeds and was steadily gaining on her. Scootaloo knew that it would soon catch her if she kept trying to ride away from it. So she quickly formulated a plan in her head. She kept at the same speed she was going but kept a close eye on the monster. As she predicted, it quickly lunged off of the most recent tree it had jumped to and towards Scootaloo. That’s when she acted. Immediately after the shadow creature launched its attack Scootaloo jumped off of her scooter while it was still moving and lifted it into the air. She spun around and swung her scooter as she did so. She was able to get the timing just right and the body of her scooter made hard contact with the monster’s face. The black creature was sent flying towards the trees. Scootaloo started to cheer for a second but soon saw that her attack had done nothing but knock the monster down for a brief moment. It slowly got back up and was suddenly joined by two completely identical ones. Scootaloo gasped and mounted her scooter again. 

More and more monsters kept coming to chase after her. Just what were these creatures and why were there so many of them? Scootaloo’s hopes rose as soon as she saw the light of what could only be Zecora’s hut in the distance. She increased her speed to as fast as she could and looked over her shoulder again. The shadow monsters’ numbers had increased to that of a small army, and they were all running towards her. She looked ahead and saw Zecora a ways head waving her arms frantically. Then the ground started to shake violently chunks of it were torn from where they laid and floated off into space. Zecora shouted something but Scootaloo couldn’t hear her over the sound of the ground breaking apart. She saw a large crack from just ahead of her. The crack broke apart and rose into the air. Scootaloo increased her speed and intended to jump off the newly made island and to Zecora’s hut. But instead she collided face first into an invisible wall of energy.

Dazed and confused, Scootaloo slowly got to her feet and felt the wall. It felt solid yet there was nothing there. She looked down and saw that the ground was far out of sight and the floating chunks of land were the only things around as far as her eye could see. Just when Scootaloo thought she had a chance to catch her breath she turned around and saw that was not the case. There weren’t as many as there was before, but at least ten of the black creatures were on the island with her. And she was completely defenseless. One creature charged directly at Scootaloo with intent to kill her. She crossed her arms over her face in an attempt the shield herself that she knew would not work and closed her eyes.

A minute passed and nothing happened. Scootaloo opened her eyes and saw that the monster had frozen in its tracks. It seemed to be quivering in fear. All of them were. Their gazes were fixed directly on the air above Scootaloo. She looked up and her eyes widened at what she saw. In her hands she was now holding two weapons. In her right hand she held what appeared to be a long, orange sword. Centered above the hilt was an orange blade with a large face and teeth along the side. The top of the blade curved and what appeared to be a wheel was underneath the curve. In her left hand she held a weapon only about half the other’s size. It also featured a much simpler design. It was just a metal rod with a hilt and two tubes sticking out of one end. And both of them had a keychain hanging from the bottom with wheel charms attached. Scootaloo had no idea where these weapons came from, but the creatures seemed to be afraid of them. She took a battle stance and prepared for attack.

The monster that initially attacked her seemed to have gotten over its fear and lunged at Scootaloo again. Scootaloo swung the long blade at it and it sliced right through the monster with almost no effort at all. The shadow creature evaporated into a puff of shadows and was no more. Scootaloo felt a new surge of confidence spring up inside of her. Not only did she have weapons now, but they were also effective. The rest of the creatures all charged towards Scootaloo and she did the same. At the last second she flipped over them and landed behind. She quickly spun around and swung both her new blades in opposite directions. Half the monsters’ numbers dwindled into black mist. Scootaloo noted that these weapons were light and able to be swung fast. Now the remaining four monsters were on either side of her and were crouching for the attack. When they lunged at her she ducked as low as she could and arced her blades above her head. Only one shadow creature wise enough not to partake in the attack remained. Scootaloo ran at it, jumped in the air, and brought both of her blades down on its head.

She was victorious. No shadow creature remained. Scootaloo finally took a second to sit down and catch her breath. But it was only a second. From the void below a new shadow monster emerged. This one was much larger than the others she had encountered. Instead of being humanoid this monster took the form of a giant bird with a heart shaped hole in its torso. The bird flew right through the invisible wall and shattered it. It then dove down towards the island Scootaloo was on and demolished a large chunk of it. Scootaloo was able to leap backwards to avoid getting hit just in time. She was now standing on a floating piece of land that gave her just enough room for her feet. She looked down and saw her scooter falling down into the void below.

Scootaloo knew that if she stood on this small rock any longer she would be a dead. She looked around and saw the nearest stable ground was another island that looked like it was too far away to jump to. But the bird monster was swooping in for another attack so Scootaloo didn’t anytime to think about whether or not she’d make it. Taking a deep breath of courage, she sprang from the little footing she had right before the bird destroyed it. When she opened her eyes she expected to be falling, but she was moving towards the piece of ground she originally leapt at. Was she flying? No, Scootaloo realized that instead there was some sort of force propelling her towards the island. It was as if this area had its own laws of gravity. As soon as Scootaloo landed she decided to test this out and leap at the bird. She zoomed towards it with her blades outstretched like wings. As she approached the bird she felt the center of gravity shift towards it and Scootaloo’s speed increased. She held both her blades to one side and swung them simultaneously at the bird’s head. They made struck the bird’s head with a great deal of force and the recoil sent Scootaloo flying backwards. The bird shrieked in pain and Scootaloo landed on a rock.

Now the bird monster had its white eyes locked on Scootaloo with a nasty expression to match. It got ready for another charge. Scootaloo looked around and tried to quickly think of what to do next. She looked above her and saw a smaller rock. The bird was flying directly towards Scootaloo now. When it was two body lengths away from her she jumped directly up and towards the rock she had just spotted. The center of gravity shifted to that rock and Scootaloo flipped so that her feat would land on it. Immediately after she landed on the rock she jumped again and rocketed towards the bird as it was still charging. She raised her blades above her head and used her acceleration to deal a devastating blow to the bird’s head. Scootaloo used the recoil of her attack to flip and land on the bird’s back. Then she let loose a string of quick attacks relentlessly at the back of its neck. The bird shrieked and tried to spin in order to shake Scootaloo off of it. But she was now in its gravity so she could fall off of it unless she jumped off. After an endless barrage of strikes Scootaloo finished her attack by pointing both of her blades downwards and plunging them into the bird’s neck.

This time the bird didn’t even shriek; it only fell limp. Scootaloo had down it, she had slain the bird. She looked around her. All of the land that had flown up with her was now crumbling into nothing. The bird was slowly evaporating into a black mist. Pretty soon Scootaloo would have nothing to stand on and fall to Celestia knows where. She frantically looked around and tried to find out what she should do. It was faint, but in the distance she saw a white light. Seeing no other alternative Scootaloo leapt from the corpse of the monster just as it finished evaporated and rocketed towards the light.

 

~

 

Along the shore of a bright beach walked a tall, skinny man and a small mouse. The mouse wore an elegant pink dress and a golden tiara on her head. She walked with a strong indication of upper class in her movements. The man on the other hand seemed to dress in a far more free-spirited manor. His posture and body language seemed to show that while he respected the mouse’s status, he was not one to submit to her.

“Now your majesty,” The man said to the mouse as they walked down the beach. “I want you to keep in mind that I am only in your service as long as the funding is right. When the work is complete on the Strahl I will have all the resources I need to find my friend. So in short, I will not escort you on your quest without incentive. Understood?”

“You don’t need to worry about a thing Balthier,” The queen said. “I have more than enough Munny to satisfy you. But I really want you to consider the fact that you helping me is not only important to me, but the rest of the worlds as well.”

“I’m afraid that Fran tops all other priorities on my list.” Balthier said to the queen. His tone indicated while he meant what he said, he understood that the queen’s request was important. “I won’t take away effort from finding her unless I have a reason to.”

“I understand.” The queen sighed. “You will be rewarded handsomely for your…OH MY!” The queen pointed towards the sky over the ocean. Balthier looked to where the queen was pointing and saw young a girl falling from the sky. 

Balthier didn’t even wait for the queen to say anything else. Without a word he threw off his shirt and shoved it into the queen’s hands. He ran into the ocean and dove right in. He swam as fast as he could towards where he thought the girl was going to land. She splashed down into the water and created a large wave heading directly for Balthier. He dove under it so it wouldn’t impede his progress. The girl soon began to slowly sink. Thankfully Balthier had reached her just in time to dive under the water and catch her before she had sunken too deep. With the unconscious girl in his arms, Balthier stroked himself back to shore. When he returned to the queen he tossed the girl on the beach and fell to the sand himself, panting.

“You saved her Balthier!” The queen said, kneeling down to inspect the girl. She looked to be no younger than ten years old with short, dark purple hair. She was breathing steadily.

“All…in…a…day’s…work…for…a…gentleman.” Balthier said in-between pants. He took his shirt back from the queen and donned it again. 

The queen picked up the girl in her arms. “We’d better get her back to the castle.”

 

~

 

It was all a normal day for Scootaloo and her friends. The sun was bright, the breeze was cool, and they were all having a good time. Then the sun went black. Shadows formed everywhere. Monsters appeared out of the ground. Two of them grabbed Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. They screamed for Scootaloo’s help. But all she did was turn around and run away. They’re screams of terror grew softer and softer in her ears until they were abruptly brought to a halt. And yet she still did nothing but run. 

Scootaloo jolted upright after her nightmare. Was that all it was? A cruel nightmare? Was she back in her bed and everyone was alright? She looked at the bed sheets; they were a bright pink color and felt as if they were made of the softest fabric in existence. She looked forward and the bed seemed to be three times the length of her. This definitely was not Scootaloo’s bed. She looked around the room. It was large, very large. The floor had beige carpeting. Across from her was a grand fireplace with a large painting of a male and female mouse holding hands. From the way they were dressed in the painting, Scootaloo guessed that they were a king and queen. 

The door to the room opening and female duck wearing an elegant dress walked into the room. Her eyes widened when she saw that Scootaloo was awake and rushed to her side. “Oh you’re awake!” She said with a tone of concern in her voice. “Are you alright? Is anything wrong with you?”

“I’m fine, I think.” Scootaloo said, still confused from waking up in an unfamiliar room. “Where exactly am I?”

“You’re in the king and queen’s room.” The duck explained. “You’ve been unconscious here ever since Queen Minnie found you earlier today. Oh but where are my manors? My name is Daisy Duck. Yours?” Daisy outstretched her hand for Scootaloo to shake.

“Uh Scootaloo,” Scootaloo said as she nervously shook Daisy’s hand. “You said that I was found by a queen?” Equestria technically didn’t have a queen. Celestia might as well be considered one, but she doesn’t like to be referred to as such. And Scootaloo had never heard of a queen named Minnie before.

“Right, Queen Minnie.” Daisy gasped. “Right, she’ll want to see you now that you’re awake.” She turned to face the door and called out. “Huey, Dewey, Louie!” Three younger ducks about Scootaloo’s age in red, blue, and green clothes came running into the room. 

“Yes Aunt Daisy?” The three said in unison using that tone of voice where you try to act innocent around a family member but it’s obvious you aren’t a perfect angel.

“Boys, I want you to take Ms. Scootaloo here to meet the queen.”

“Yes Aunt Daisy!” The trio of ducks rushed to grab Scootaloo’s hand and dragged her out of the room. 

“Wait…whoa!”

 

**Disney Castle**

 

Along the way the boys kept asking her question that she wasn’t really sure of the answer to. “Did you really fall from the sky?” “Can you fly with those wings on your back?” “What’s the best price for a cure-all medicine?” “Want to help us open a shop?” The three of them kept hounding her with these questions until they were stopped by a firm yet kind voice.

“Alright I’ve think you asked her enough questions.” Scootaloo looked up from the trio of ducks and saw a female mouse wearing a pink dress standing in front of them. She resembled the one in the painting she saw so Scootaloo concluded that his must have been the Queen Minnie that Daisy was talking about. “I’d like to talk with this young lady in private.”

“Ok your majesty.” The trio bowed and ran off down the hall.

“You must excuse the three of them,” The queen said as she ushered Scootaloo to walk with her. “I know they can be a little much sometimes, but they really do mean well.”

“It’s ok I guess…” Scootaloo said. “But, uh, your majesty, I’m not really sure where I am exactly.”

“Why you’re in the castle of course.”

“The castle?”

“Yes. My husband and I’s castle. This is where the queen, that’s me, and the king of Disney live.”

“Disney?”

The queen gasped and her expression changed. Nervously she asked. “Are you having trouble remembering anything sweetie?”

Scootaloo thought for a second. Unfortunately, she remembered everything clearly. She remembered her name and how old she was. She remembered where she was from and how she had watched it get viciously destroyed. She remembered who her friends were and what they were like. And she remembered how she abandoned them. “No, I don’t.”

Queen Minnie’s expression grew grimmer. “Oh my…that’s what I was afraid of. Um Ms…”

“Scootaloo. Just call me Scootaloo.”

“Arlight Scootaloo, could you please come with me. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” Queen Minnie led Scootaloo into a room at the end of the hall. In the room was a man sitting at a table that looked just the right size for the queen but comically too small for him. Though he didn’t seem mind that much.

“Are preparations complete your…” The man paused as soon as he saw Scootaloo. “Oh, it seems our mystery girl has awoken.”

“Scootaloo this is Balthier. He’s the one that rescued you from drowning in the ocean when you fell from the sky earlier today.” 

Fell from the sky? That was something Scootaloo had always wished she would hear. The doctors had made it quite clear to her that with the condition of her wings she would never be able to fly. How she got into the sky remained a mystery to her. “Uh, thanks.” Was all she could say.

“Any time my lady.” Balthier said with a hint of sarcastic pride in his voice as he bowed from his chair, which was also comically too small for him. 

The queen took a seat in a chair across from Balthier and ushered Scootaloo to do the same. “Now Balthier, I would like to listen to Scootaloo’s story if you don’t mind. It might put to rest or confirm some fears I have. And if my fears are true, then you could benefit from listening to it as well.” She turned to Scootaloo with a motherly look on her face. “Now dear, I want you to tell us exactly what happened. Tell us everything you can remember before waking up.”

“Well…” Scootaloo told the two of them everything that she could remember that she thought was relevant to her waking up in this strange castle. She told them of how Apple Bloom was having these strange dreams and they were going to Zecora’s to see if she could tell them what they meant. She told them of how the shadow monsters that they’d never seen before attacked them. She told them about the ground seeming to break apart and of her battle with them on the floating islands. She ended her story with her jumping into the light she saw. “Then the next thing I knew I was waking up in your bed your majesty.”

Balthier and Queen Minnie exchanged a look at on another. While Balthier’s expression could be described as apathetic, the queen’s was far more concerned. “Yes, that’s exactly what I was afraid of.” The queen said with a heavy sigh. She looked at Scootaloo with the same concerned expression, as if she was dreading what she was about to say. “Look, Scootaloo, there’s no easy way for me to say this…but…”

“Your world is gone.” Balthier finished for the queen. His voice was as apathetic as his face.

“My world?” Scootaloo eyed the two of them with confusion.

“Yes your world.” The queen explained. “Everything you described says that you’re from a different world than this one. And that world, the one you’re from, was destroyed by the heartless.”

“Heartless?”

“Those monsters you were describing to us.” Balthier said. “They’re nasty little buggers made out of the darkness in peoples’ hearts. You see every heart has darkness in it. Yours, mine, even her royal highness here; every heart has this little dark spot. If a person lets that darkness grow too much it’ll consume their heart and turn them into a creature like the ones you saw.”

“So wait, you’re saying that these heartless things destroyed my world?!”

“Yes I’m afraid so.” The queen said heavily. “The heartless prey on the darkness within the heart. They feed off of it and expand it until it overtakes the heart and the owner is consumed by it. Worlds have hearts too. And like all hearts, a world’s heart has darkness for the heartless to feed on. The heartless destroyed your world by expanding the darkness within it.”

“If my world was destroyed, then what happened to my friends?!”

Balthier calmly took Scootaloo’s hand. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you like her majesty might kid. Your friends are probably gone with your world, at best. You should consider yourself lucky that you’re even here discussing this with us. Most people don’t make it off of their world when it’s destroyed. I’m not even sure how Fran and I did. But it’s most likely that your friends weren’t as lucky as you were.”

“NO!” Scootaloo shouted as she slammed her hands on the table. She refused to believe what Balthier was saying. “My friends aren’t gone!”

“I’m sorry kid but that’s the way things…”

“Balthier!” The queen shouted. “You mustn’t say things like that to the poor girl. Now Scootaloo, there is a chance that your friends did make it off your world. In which case they would end up on another world like you ended up here. So you friends might still be out there.” Minnie gave a warm hearted smile.

“Ok then…” Scootaloo started to calm down a little. “Then how do I find them?”

“Well I’m afraid this is one thing I’m absolutely certain on little miss: you can’t.” Balthier closed his eyes and looked off to the side. “I’m not sure how you got here but I guarantee you that you won’t be able to do it again. If you want to travel between worlds then you’ll need something called a Gummi Ship. And I’m sorry to say, but there haven’t been any reports of any more little girls falling from the sky so they’re most likely not on this world.”

“Then where do I get one of these Gummi Ships?”

“Plain and simple: you don’t. It takes a lot of skill for one to pilot these ships from what I am told. And the only reason I’m going to be piloting one because my Strahl is being converted into a ship so I can escort the fair queen here on a quest of hers.”

“Then take me with you!”

“Absolutely not!” Queen Minnie shouted sternly. “I’m sorry Scootaloo but I cannot allow you to go on such a dangerous mission. You barely escaped your world with your life and I do not want to endanger it again.” The queen got up from her chair. “Come on Balthier it is time for us to depart.”

 

~

 

Two chipmunks named Chip and Dale ran across the dashboard of the Strahl and explained everything they had done to the ship as its captain, Balthier, sat in the pilot’s chair and listened intently.

“So you left much of the original controls in tact; is that correct?” He asked the two rodents, to which they replied with a nod. The one with the black nose, Dale, pointed to a few new switches.

“Just throw this switch when you want to leave a world and this one when you want to enter it. Other than that you should feel right at home piloting it.” Balthier nodded and the two chipmunks saluted before hopping off the dashboard and scurrying towards the door. They turned to the queen and bowed. “Safe returns in your travels your highness.” With that they scurried off the ship and a safe distance from it.

Balthier strapped himself to the seat and turned his head to look back towards the queen. “This is your captain speaking,” He said in a slightly comical tone. “We are about to take off. I suggest that you fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a bumpy departure.” He paused for a second. “Or at the very least hold onto something really tight.” He turned back towards the controls and went through is normal procedures for takeoff. As the engines of the Strahl blared to life Chip and Dale opened the hanger door and rotated the ship to face the opening. Soon the ship was levitating off the ground and slowly propelling itself out of the hangs. The second it was completely out in the open Balthier flipped the first of the new switches the chipmunks had installed. The Strahl angled itself towards the sky and instantly zoomed forward at an incomprehensible speed. Both Balthier and Queen Minnie were pushed back against their seats until the ship came to a suddenly slow down. There were now in an endless void of constantly changing colors and patterns with the world of Disney behind them. “This is your captain speaking,” Balthier said once again. “We have now entered interspace. You are free to move about the cabin. And if she’s still in one piece, our little stowaway might as well come out of hiding now.” Scootaloo stood up from her hiding place with a defeated look on her face. 

“Scootaloo!” Queen Minnie shouted in astonishment and anger. 

“How long did you know I was there?” Scootaloo asked.

“Since the very moment you snuck aboard dear.” Balthier smirked. 

“And you let her come with us into interspace?!” The queen shouted in anger. “Turn this ship around immediately!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that your majesty.” Balthier said as he flipped a few controls on the Strahl’s dashboard and the ship started to fly forwards, leaving the world of Disney far behind them. Scootaloo sat down in an empty seat and buckled herself in while the queen just silently put her hand to her face.


End file.
